Solar Eclipse
by KillerGeishaYumi
Summary: Finally, the story you've all been waiting for...the sequel to Black Moon! I don't think it's going to have an actual solar eclipse; that's just a title. UxY
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_At first, he could barely smell the lotions that were rubbed on his skin. As the week rolled on, however, their stenches got stronger and he started to be able to pick out the scents of individual herbs. He could only recognize hemlock, though._

_He hated it._

_Over and over again, he tried to get out. But he had been shackled to the wall, and no amount of thrashing and writhing could get his wrists out of the manacles. He still hadn't figured out what the chains were made of; just that they wouldn't break or tear out of the wall._

_At least now he knew what kind of person would hang chains in his house – and had part of the answer to why._

_The front door closed. It was Mom, back from her visit with relatives. She had been gone all week, on Dad's request. Pity that he still wasn't done when she returned._

Yeah. Pity. Right.

_She opened the door and saw him there, chained to the wall with blood trickling down his wrists and sweat coating his bare chest. Her face twisted into an expression of horror and – _oh, please no!_ – sympathy. She whirled and ran, leaving the door open._

_He could hear every word said by both his parents. All too well._

"_How could you do this to him? He's your son!"_

"_All the more reason!" Dad was growling; he'd been doing that a lot at his son, for resisting. "He's strong enough to take it!"_

"_That's not the point! You promised me that you would be a loving father! What kind of father does that to his son?"_

"_A wolf, damn it! Ulrich's no good to me as a human!"_

_The rest didn't matter._

No good, no good…_he was losing. He could feel it._

_His shoulder had been burning for some time; now the burn had spread. He felt like he was on fire from head to toes, and his bones ached far worse than they ever had before. His jaws were the worst off._

_He thrashed in silence for as long as he could, but finally a whimper escaped. It wasn't human._

"_Ah, finally…" Dad appeared in the doorway. "Yes, you're doing fine, Ulrich; just let it come. Taste it."_

_He bared half-human teeth at his dad, giving his wolf-pelt sleeping mat a kick. It didn't go far – the floor sloped toward this closet. However many times he kicked it out, it slid back._

_Another stab of pain tore through him, finally forcing from him a sound he hadn't wanted to make…_

_The wolf's howl…_

Ulrich woke with a start and surged up, snapping his teeth hard onto something that yelped. Startled, he blinked the sleep from his eyes and looked past his wolf's muzzle.

It was Odd, staring at him with hurt astonishment and a touch of fear. His right arm was extended towards Ulrich, his hand –

Oh, no…

Ulrich's teeth were gripping that hand, hard enough to pierce the skin. He could taste Odd's blood, hot on his tongue. He let go with a sound midway between a howl and a whimper, jerking away and morphing back to full human.

"What were you doing? Why couldn't you have left me alone?" Ulrich demanded. It was almost a wail.

"You were morphing in your sleep," Odd replied, strangely calm even as his eyes widened in horrified fascination at the fang marks in his hand. "I thought I'd give you an anti-lunar before you wrecked another shirt; you were snapping your teeth so much, I figured I could just drop it in…"

Ulrich shook his head. Now he _knew_ Odd was insane. "Get to Yolanda – tell her what happened – _exactly_ what happened. I'm serious."

Odd swung around toward the door and rushed out. Ulrich tried to tell himself that it was because Odd wanted his bleeding hand bandaged _now_, and not because he was finally afraid of his roommate. He wasn't sure he believed himself.

Ulrich threw himself back down on his bed and pulled his blankets over his head. He didn't even move when Kiwi dared to jump up on his bed and snuggle up against him. All he wanted was for a Return to the Past to undo this miserable night.

_Might as well wish for a Return Trip to undo my entire eight years as a werewolf. The one's as likely to happen as the other._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Yumi's attention was arrested immediately by the human howl of astonishment, outrage and fear, especially since she recognized it as William's. Curious, she sought him out and quickly spotted him by the snack machines with the rest of the Lyoko Warriors – minus Odd.

"You _bit_ him?" William demanded of Ulrich, only a little quieter than his earlier shout.

"Shut up," Ulrich replied. He was sitting on the ground just outside the doorway.

"Hi, guys," Yumi put in, "Who bit who?"

"Hi, Yumi," Aelita nodded. "Ulrich had a nightmare last night and bit Odd."

Yumi's eyebrows lifted. "_Goodness_, the supernatural population's hard on Odd. First me, then Ulrich – what is he, a fang magnet?"

William seemed to have gotten himself back under control. "Ultimately, how's this going to affect Odd? Is he a werewolf now, too?"

"I hope not," Ulrich muttered.

Jeremy looked up from his laptop. "Probably not; according to this, just the bite of a therianthrope is almost never enough. Ulrich would have had to be born a werewolf, preferably from a long line of werewolves, and Odd would have to be something other than blond, preferably with some kind of therianthropy in his family. As it is, Odd would have to spend at least two weeks in rituals before he'd be turned."

William gave Jeremy a weird look. "What kind of website is that?"

"I gave him the link after the runaround with Elder Mandy," Yumi told him. "It's got stuff on both vampires and werewolves. It's pretty accurate, too – I think vampires and werewolves contribute to it."

Aelita cocked her head. "So, what's with the blond?"

Yumi lifted her arms in an elegant shrug. "All I know is that one never sees a blond werewolf."

Ulrich shrugged in response. "I know that werewolves try to avoid turning blonds. I just don't know why."

Jeremy suddenly grinned, obviously amused by what he found. "Evidently, blond werewolves come with behavior problems."

That got a reaction. They all stared at Jeremy with similar expressions until Ulrich asked, "What behavior would a _werewolf_ consider a _problem_?"

"They call it 'Golden Retriever Syndrome.' I gather that means…"

Yumi suddenly burst out laughing at the thought of Odd turning into a werewolf – and then rolling over and begging to be petted, or jumping up on somebody to cover their faces with licks.

Ulrich slowly grinned, probably thinking the same thing. "So…I guess that means Odd won't change at all even if he does become a werewolf."

That made Yumi laugh harder, and Aelita choked as she tried not to laugh herself.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Odd demanded as he swung in.

Yumi snapped her fangs shut on the rest of her laughter.

"Oh, nothing," Aelita gasped. "So, how did it go with Yolanda?"

The purple-clad boy showed them his bandaged hand. "Magnificently; she told me that I was in very good time for getting it treated, and that I just might have prevented myself from becoming a werewolf at all." He glanced at Ulrich. "She, uh, also said that I couldn't room with you for the next two weeks, Ulrich…to avoid residual…something or other."

Ulrich nodded. "I thought she might say that. My magic might not be strong, but I do have magic, and it sticks around for quite a while wherever I hang out for a long time. And since I _sleep_ in our dorm room, it's all over the place in there." Ulrich hesitated for a moment, and then added, "Besides, you really should avoid other werewolves as often as you can for a couple weeks. When my dad turned me, he had me sleeping on a wolf pelt – apparently, it encourages the shift. Being around a living wolf is probably about the same thing."

Jeremy clicked a few keys and said, "You're right; there's a record here of a girl who was bitten by a hostile werewolf, and then rescued by a pack of friendly ones. They didn't do anything to make _sure_ she turned, they were only helping her to heal, but she turned anyway because she was around all those wolves."

"Will you be sleeping in the infirmary?" Aelita asked.

"For the first week; after that, I can go back to a dorm…one without a werewolf resident. Jeremy, William…do I get any invites?"

William opened his mouth and hesitated. Yumi felt a mild sympathy for him.

Jeremy nodded. "By all means, you can stay in my room until that's over. Just leave Kiwi with Ulrich, all right? The last time he was in my room, he made a mess."

Odd looked anxious. "Uh, I wasn't…" Obviously he hadn't planned on leaving his dog anywhere.

"I won't kill the stupid dog," Ulrich growled.

"He's not stupid!" Odd protested.

"He knows I'm a werewolf, and that I _could_ kill him, and he jumps up and leaves his messes on _my_ half of our mutually divided territory. He's stupid."

Yumi smirked. Who could really argue with that logic?

"If you're really that worried about it, Odd, I could take care of Kiwi," William suddenly said. "I kind of like the little fella."

Odd beamed at William. "Would you? That would be awesome, thanks!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ulrich stayed well out of Odd's way as he moved his essential junk out of their room; watching his friend pack would have been too upsetting, and he was depressed enough already. Even knowing that most of the non-essential junk was staying put, because Odd _was_ coming back eventually, didn't help his mood any.

_When exactly did I get to like the fact that those two idiots were sharing my room?_ That had probably been the miracle when Odd and Kiwi first moved in: Ulrich hadn't gone wolf-style territorial. Of course, he'd met Odd on neutral territory – one of the classrooms. That undoubtedly helped defuse the territorial response to the purple punk. Kiwi, on the other hand…

Finally Odd cleared out, and Ulrich went back into his dorm. His first deep breath almost convinced him to ask for a different dorm, or sleep outside: the scents of Odd and Kiwi were heavy in there. He sighed in lonely melancholy and closed the door.

Ulrich lay awake on his bed for a long time that night. He had often longed for Odd to shut up so that he could sleep; now the silence was deafening.

_I need to talk to someone._ Was anyone even up? He highly doubted that Jeremy was: the boy genius hadn't been able to get out of PE today. Aelita was probably asleep, too, although she was a light sleeper. Odd was in the infirmary; sedated, no doubt. William? _I don't want to talk to William._

_What about Yumi? She's practically nocturnal – no way is she asleep already._ Ulrich had almost convinced himself to find his cell phone and call when said phone went off, startling him off his bed and rushing around his room in search of the thing.

Finally – "Hello?" he said into his phone.

"Good evening, Ulrich," replied a familiar and welcome voice.

"Yumi! I was just thinking about calling you."

"I know. Missing your roommate already?"

Ulrich made a face. "Yeah…how did you know?"

"How did _you_ know that I was in trouble with Elder Mandy – to the point that you dragged your anemic self out of bed to go look for me?"

"Uh…" That was a good question; he hadn't given it any thought.

"I think it's an effect of my drinking your blood and leaving scars on your neck. It's like having a bond."

"Cool. Okay, that makes sense."

"Odd's not there right now, is he?" It wasn't so much a question as a statement.

Ulrich sighed. "No."

"He hasn't _moved out_, right? I mean a lot of his stuff's still there, right?"

"Well…" Ulrich glanced at a drawer that wasn't quite closed. "…Yeah, he left a lot of junk behind."

"Anything important, or can't you tell?"

Ulrich snorted. "He left his math book, for one thing."

Yumi laughed.

"I guess Delmas'll at least make him come back for that."

"Seriously though, Ulrich, you'd better not still be worried about Odd being afraid of you. He's never shown any concern about me after I bit him – and he knows _your_ biting him was his own fault. Besides, he's crazy. He's not scared by things that would terrify sane people. He'll be sleeping in your room again the minute he's allowed."

Ulrich smiled. "Thanks, Yumi. What's happening in the world of vampires?"

"Akem Manah will be in the neighborhood some time this week."

"Who?"

"Elder Akem Manah," Yumi said slowly, enunciating the name. "He runs an underground casino, according to rumor. I hope he stays at a hotel or something, because I don't know that I'm emotionally ready for another houseguest so soon after that nightmare runaround with Elder Mandy." Yumi sighed. "But it's the law of the perverse: because I don't want him here, this is where he'll stay."

Ulrich scowled. Something wasn't adding up. "Where _is_ that casino?"

"Vegas. Can you believe it?"

"What's he doing in France, then?"

"Ulrich, I don't even want to know. I don't want to know and I don't want to see him. The people who gamble at his casino aren't using money…"

_That_ had gone without saying, and Ulrich said so. "Where does he store his earnings, the blood bank?" Ulrich asked dryly.

Yumi was silent on the other end for a long moment. Ulrich was about to ask if she was still there when she said, "Vampires don't just take blood, Ulrich. Just thought I'd mention it."

Ulrich had opened his mouth to ask his previous question, but no sound came out. He had to close his mouth and try again. "So his gamblers don't pay in blood…"

If he was expecting Yumi to confirm that, he was surprised. "It depends."

_I'm not asking, I'm not asking…_ "On…"

"What kind of stakes they're willing to play for."

Then it was Ulrich's turn for the long silence. _I had to ask, didn't I?_

"I can hear you breathing."

"Yeah, I know…I'm trying to decide if I'm gonna ask the other stupid question."

Yumi laughed. There wasn't much humor in it. "Go ahead, ask."

Ulrich hesitated, and then burst out, "What _else_?"

"What…oh, what else can vampires take from humans?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, everybody knows about the blood-drinking. There's also plasma…"

"That's _in_ blood, right?" That was all he could remember about plasma, right off-the-cuff. "There was…" he paused. "There was this joke I heard once about two vampires going into a bar…"

Yumi snorted. "And they order a blood and a 'Blood Lite.' I've heard that one."

"How much diff is there between blood and plasma? For a vampire, I mean."

"Some vampires are allergic to some blood types, but all vampires can drink plasma from anyone. Blood has more of what a vampire needs, though."

"At the casino, would plasma be worth more or…"

"Plasma's lowest. Blood is next up."

"What's on top?" Ulrich couldn't believe he'd actually asked that question – he could practically guarantee that he wouldn't like the answer. He was right, too: it made his blood run cold.

"To play the biggest games at Akem Manah's…you gamble your soul."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

* * *

><p>Yumi stretched lazily in bed, oblivious to the panel of light shifting menacingly across the floor. She <em>really<em> was not a morning person…even when she went to bed at the "right time" for a human. In fact, given a choice, she'd sleep by _day_ – but there wasn't a night school anywhere close enough to even fly to.

_That would be the one potential good thing about moving again_, Yumi thought drowsily. _I might get to go to a night school, and get a proper day's sleep…_

Her arm fell off the bed, hand dropping right into the square of sunlight. With a shriek of pain that no human could ever hope to make, Yumi sprang out of bed and collided with the ceiling. Her "Ouch!" upon hitting the floor again was more human.

She sat up and studied her scorched hand ruefully. It was healing itself, but not quite at its usual speed: getting dressed would be something of a painful ordeal.

There was a knock at the door. "Yumi? Are you all right?"

"Yes," Yumi called back to her mom, "I just fell into the sun."

"All right." Her mom's footsteps receded.

"If only injuries by sunlight healed as fast as cuts and bruises," Yumi sighed.

* * *

><p>"What's wrong with your hand?"<p>

Yumi nodded a greeting to Odd and answered his question. "Sunburn."

"What? No, seriously…"

"Seriously. I'm a vampire, remember?"

Odd grinned at her. "Don't vampires sparkle?"

Yumi snorted in total disgust. "What have you been reading? In the _real_ world, vampires burn in the sun if they don't use protections."

"Oh." Odd made a face. "So…how'd I manage to duck getting barbequed when I got stuck in your body?"

"The luck of fools and madmen," Yumi teased. "You put those protections on without even knowing it." When he opened his mouth to ask the logical next question she added, "Do _not_ ask."

"But what if I'm stuck in your body again?"

"With any luck, that'll _never_ happen again. _If_ it does, I'll tell you what form those protections have." Yumi shot Odd a fierce look. "And you won't act like an idiot in my body again…_right_?"

Odd grinned sheepishly. "Right." He started for the cafeteria.

Yumi followed him. "So where is everybody?"

"P.E. class; they're rope climbing. I got excused on account of my hand."

"Hm." Yumi stared thoughtfully in the general direction of the dorms.

"What'cha thinking?"

"I'm a little worried about Jeremy. He hasn't – quite – been himself lately."

Odd's eyebrows lifted. "He hasn't? I hadn't noticed anything…"

Yumi smirked slightly. "No, you probably wouldn't: it's a vampire thing."

"Do you think he was turned? Into anything?"

"I…" Yumi paused. "I don't want to say yes to that. He doesn't smell of blood at any point – that's a giveaway for any newly-turned paranormal – and you're acting wolfier than he is. It's just…"

Odd was silent for a long moment. "XANA Mandy."

"Her echoes _are_ still clinging to him," Yumi admitted. "Maybe it was too much to hope for that any problems with that attack would manifest immediately."

"If it's that bad…" Odd stopped walking and turned around.

Yumi stopped, too, and waited patiently.

"Can we still trust him? I mean, he's still on our side, I'll grant that he won't want to kill us or anything like that, but – what if…what if…"

Yumi's brows lowered. "You're worried that Jeremy might go insane."

"Well, uh…yeah."

"I don't have an answer for you," Yumi sighed. "Aelita's needed on Lyoko too often to switch to monitoring the screens, and the rest of us aren't any good with the supercomputer. We need Jeremy. Besides which, he's our friend. I don't want to see him go into a decline or something, but there's nothing I can do about it. I don't understand Elder Mandy's magic…"

"And you don't much want to," Odd added, perceptive for once.

"And I'm not strong enough to reverse whatever she did to him. Only another Elder could do that…"

A sudden pressure on Yumi's shoulder blades made her tense. The last time she'd felt a similar pressure, Elder Mandy was looking at her; the time before that was her Roseblood Ritual.

"Yumi?" Odd had noticed her reaction. Or maybe he'd noticed the pressure itself, although Yumi doubted that for several reasons.

"Odd," she said as matter-of-factly as she could, "Look past me: is someone looking at me?"

Odd cocked his head and looked around her. "Yeah."

"Adult or student?"

"Adult."

"Man or woman?"

Odd was silent for a few seconds. "Man."

"Is there something unusual about him?"

"He's…creepy. He looks like a really strung-out hippie."

Yumi scowled. _That_ didn't match anyone she knew of on the Council of Thirteen.

"Is he one of your vampire Elders?"

Slowly, Yumi shifted her feet. Then she spun around to face the man who was staring at her.

The strung-out hippie was an illusion, or glamour; she could see right through it. The man who was _really_ standing there was wearing a perfectly business-appropriate black suit and polished shoes. And his head looked like the skull of a mountain goat, complete with the curled horns and with the addition of razor-sharp fangs.

Yumi's eyes widened as she recognized Akem Manah. "Yes, Odd: that's an Elder. He doesn't really look like that, he's using an illusion."

"Oh…so why's he here – and why's he staring at you?"

That would be the question. Yumi closed half the distance between Odd and Akem Manah and gave him a perfect bow. Then she waited for him to speak.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

* * *

><p>Ulrich glowered at the floor, in a nasty mood. He hated climbing anything, but Jim hadn't given him the slightest bit of choice in the matter. William was giving him a very wide berth.<p>

"Ulrich?" Aelita asked softly.

He glanced up. "What?"

"I thought you were doing better on the rope, actually." Aelita dusted her hands off on her shirt, leaving chalky handprints. "You got most of the way up."

"Hm." Ulrich glanced around. Jeremy was sitting on the bleachers, playing with his laptop. "Managed to talk his way out of P.E., did he?"

Aelita followed his gaze. "Actually…I interceded with Jim for him. I'm…worried about him."

"How so?"

"He's…" Aelita hesitated. "I can't put my finger on it. There's something not quite right about him anymore."

"Less focused? Brooding?" Now would be a _really_ _bad_ time to mention some of the weird things he'd heard through the doors, late last night.

"I think I'd recognize 'less focused' from watching Odd, and 'brooding' from watching you," Aelita pointed out. "This is different."

_I do _not_ brood_, Ulrich wanted to growl – but of course, he knew that he wandered off a lot to think in peace, and he was often in a mood when he did. That certainly added up to brooding. "_Too_ focused?" he asked instead.

"That's…closer," Aelita admitted. "But it's not like his usual…" she groped for a word.

"Obsession?" William put in; daring to approach Ulrich _after_ Aelita had been standing there for five minutes without getting her throat ripped out.

Aelita went very quiet.

"It's not like he's never gotten obsessed with anything," Ulrich pointed out. "Remember when you were still not much more than a computer program in Lyoko, before we got you to earth? Talk about going without sleep. And then _after_ we got you out, he practically went insomniac trying to separate you from XANA."

"I know, I know…" Aelita shot Ulrich a sharp look. "But you don't think that's it either, do you?"

"Don't, uh…" Ulrich paused. "I don't think it's what?"

"XANA. Jeremy's not obsessing over how to destroy XANA, is he? I've seen _that_, this is different."

"Actually…no."

Aelita leaned forward. "Do you know what the problem _is_?"

Ulrich grimaced. "Not…with…any…certainty…" suddenly he tensed; something had started setting off all the panic signals in his head.

"Ulrich?" William asked hesitantly.

"Something…something's not right," Ulrich said, trying not to freak out. When he went into panic mode, it usually involved running away on all fours at top speed and likely would include savaging anything that didn't get out of the way fast enough.

William evidently had picked up on that: he started backing up. Aelita remained motionless, choosing to play statue rather than risk being a moving target.

Then, Ulrich's senses dimmed and a voice whispered through his mind. _Ulrich?_

_Yumi?_ Ulrich thought back in disbelief. He'd known that they'd shared a bond since he let Yumi drink his blood, but he hadn't known that she could use it to speak to him like this.

His senses dimmed farther, causing him to sway dizzily. On the plus side, the panic signals quit broadcasting.

_Akem Manah is here,_ Yumi told him. _I don't know why exactly, but he wants to talk to Jeremy and Aelita. I'm escorting him to the gym right now. I'd wager you can sense him, by the way._

That would explain the panic signals.

_We'll be there in thirty seconds – give them the heads-up._

"Ulrich?" Jeremy's voice seemed to come from a long way off. "Are you all right? Do we need to get Yolanda?"

"Yumi's coming," Ulrich replied. At least, he thought he'd replied: he almost couldn't hear his own voice. "And she's bringing a visitor: a really powerful visitor. He wants to talk to you and Aelita."

_I'll fine-tune the sensory blocks when I get there,_ Yumi added. There was no apology in her mind, but he didn't particularly expect it.

The first sign that Yumi had arrived was that the feeling returned to his body; at some point while he was in telepathic contact with her, he'd dropped to his knees. Then his vision cleared. His hearing and smell didn't come back all the way, and he somehow suspected that Yumi wouldn't let him get those senses back in full until after the Elder left. He tried to get up and his head spun; he decided that he was safer on the floor. He did look up, though, and saw Yumi standing there with a stranger.

"Elder, this is Jeremy, Aelita, William, and Ulrich," Yumi said, indicating who had which name by pointing at them. "Guys, this is Elder Akem."

Aelita favored him a perfect bow, although Ulrich spied a dubious expression. He couldn't blame her: the guy looked like a strung-out drug freak. William glanced at Yumi and someone else – Odd? – for confirmation, and then bowed himself. Jeremy was rigid as a pole, but he somehow managed a bow of his own. Ulrich just waved from his vantage point of the floor.

Aelita glanced at Jeremy – who clearly wasn't about to say anything – and said, "What can we do for you, Elder?"

Akem Manah studied her for a moment. Then he spoke in a grating voice. "I have long been aware of the secret you carry. There was even a time when I knew your father. I know what you are doing – and what you are trying to do. I come to tell you that your enemy is rising against the vampires, of which one is your friend."

Ulrich had given up on being surprised. "If this is about Elder Mandy," he said wryly, "We took care of that already, weeks ago. What, did she complain to you?"

Yumi winced and shot Ulrich a warning look; evidently, one didn't speak like that to an elder if they were interested in survival.

"He has gathered the Omens," Akem Manah continued, as if Ulrich hadn't spoken. "He has corrupted them to his own use, in a way my children cannot sense."

Yumi looked horrified; evidently, that meant something to her.

Odd leaned forward to look around Akem Manah. "Okay, stupid question: what are the 'Omens'?"

"They're basically storm clouds," Yumi whispered, "But they rain blood. If XANA's taken control of them, it would let him possess every vampire in France, or even the world – and he wouldn't even have to do anything, the vampires would do it for him just by responding instinctively to that rain."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

* * *

><p>Yumi glanced around at her friends as they rushed through the sewers, thinking that she would be amused if the moment was any less serious. Akem Manah had chosen to discard his illusion and come with them, and was at the moment leading them along the tunnels; where everyone else was in relation to him either spoke of courage or caution.<p>

"How do you know my father, sir?" Aelita asked when they were halfway there. She and Odd were the closest to the Elder; Yumi suspected a surplus of courage for Aelita and a lack of caution for Odd.

For a second, Yumi didn't think Elder Akem would answer. Then he looked at Aelita. "He came to me, asking if I had any news of his wife."

Yumi took a deep breath. "Did you, Elder?"

"She was the prisoner of werewolves. I could do nothing without reversing all that had been accomplished between the children of night and of moon." He shrugged. "And he was not willing to pay me enough to reconsider."

Odd's head turned slightly. Yumi was behind him and couldn't see his face, but she guessed that he was eyeing the Elder's fangs.

Yumi shot a glance over her shoulder. William was trying to look cool even though she could hear his heart beating fast enough to dance to; Jeremy wasn't even calm enough to try. It occurred to Yumi that she had never asked Ulrich if he'd heard anything unusual during the night. Unfortunately, he'd chosen to stay behind to find the vampires and keep them from tasting the bloodfall of the Omens.

Fortunately, she had another option.

_Ulrich?_ Yumi called mentally.

His reply wasn't so much in words as in growls, but he acknowledged her.

_Did you hear anything unusual in the past two weeks – from Jeremy?_

An anxious whimper, combined with remembered sound. Jeremy had been talking since midnight most nights, and what he was saying reminded Yumi of some six-year-old vampires she'd known in Japan. It would have been only slightly creepy if she hadn't known it was Jeremy. As it was…

_Was it that bad all week?_

Pretty much. Last night was worst. Ulrich hadn't wanted to tell the others, especially Aelita, because he didn't think there was much she or anyone else could do.

_Well, yeah, that's a worry Aelita doesn't need right now. I don't think there's a choice anymore, though._

Probably not; not with an Elder there. Would he do something?

Yumi's eyebrows lifted at the extra subtext in the growled question. _You mean _to_ Jeremy? I don't know, actually…but if he did decide to help Jeremy, he certainly _could_ reverse whatever Elder Mandy did to him._

By the way… Ulrich's memory supplied her with a glimpse of him arguing Hiroki into staying with Milly and keeping her from being scared of the Omens – and keeping her from dashing out into them.

Yumi snapped her fangs closed before she laughed out loud in what was ultimately a tense situation; nobody else would have any clue why she was laughing. _Nice one, Ulrich! He'll stay there for hours if he has the option! The boy's besotted; must be her blood-red hair._

Very funny. How many other vampires did he have to worry about?

_Good-news-bad-news time: there's only one other vampire, but I don't know who it is._

Ulrich growled aloud in frustration; Yumi could tell because it vibrated along _her_ jaws, too. Ulrich didn't like where this was going at all: he would have to activate his lycanthropic nature to find the last vampire by smell, and not only did he not _like_ going wolf, but he had no doubt that he'd end up in a fight with the vampire.

Yumi smiled slightly. _I have faith in you. You realize that, right?_

Yeah, yeah…

Releasing the link, Yumi opened her eyes to find that she would be last up the ladder. She sprang up without using it and rushed after the others. Glancing over her shoulder, Yumi was horrified to see the crimson-black clouds just beginning to draw together over the school.

"Jeremy, we're going to have absolutely no time to waste," Yumi began as she leaped into the elevator. Then she really looked at Jeremy, who was huddled in a corner of the elevator as far away from Akem Manah as he could get.

Jeremy was an absolute nervous wreck. What worried Yumi particularly was that his hands were shaking like branches in a hurricane; how was he going to virtualize them if he couldn't type?

"Aelita," Yumi added quietly, "Can you set a delayed virtualization for us?"

"If we really don't have that much time, it would be faster if someone else did the typing," Aelita replied, anxiously stroking Jeremy's hair.

Yumi ran some rapid calculations. Odd wouldn't be able to type at all with that bandage on his hand, and he wasn't very good with the supercomputer in the first place. William – she spared him a glance – was only barely doing better than Jeremy, sharing an elevator with a powerful vampire. With an Elder watching, there was almost no way he'd be able to virtualize them without making a typo. That just left her…

"I'll do it," she said as the elevator opened, "And then I'll set a delay start for myself and meet you guys there."

Elder Akem followed her out of the elevator, carrying Jeremy – and that surprised Yumi, actually. She hadn't been expecting him to even _touch_ one of the humans. She considered him for a second, and then put him out of her mind and settled in the chair.

Her fingers flew over the keyboard, running the virtualization process for Aelita, Odd, and William. Then she prepared the delay-start, setting the timer for as low as possible while still giving her enough time to get to the scanner. She slid out of the chair and turned, to get ready to run for the ladder before she pushed Enter…

And saw the last wisps of what looked like pale gray smoke fade away from Jeremy's eyes and mouth into Akem Manah's. Then Jeremy's eyes rolled back and he went limp.

Yumi froze. She knew exactly what had happened, of course: she'd seen paintings of soul-stealing vampires often enough to figure that one out. The important thing was why.

With an unbelievable effort, she unclenched her fangs. "Elder…"

Akem Manah set Jeremy gently on the floor and turned to face her. "Your enemy has used one of my allies to cause damage to him," he said, sounding offended at the audacity of XANA. "And now is using the sacred Omens to summon his own vampire army. His intent in damaging him," gesturing at the prone Jeremy, "was to delay or prevent your stopping him. I intend to steal that victory from him."

Yumi nodded, feeling a little better. "Will Jeremy be able to launch the Return to the Past himself?"

Elder Akem nodded. "I shall keep you informed," he added, approaching the chair she was still standing next to.

"Thank you." Yumi hit Enter and started to _move_.

_Akem Manah's not so bad,_ Yumi decided as she half-flew into the open scanner. No sooner than she hit the back of it, the scanner closed around her.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

* * *

><p>Ulrich shook himself crossly. He'd morphed, his shirt was pretty much history, and it had started raining. Blood was soaking into his fur.<p>

It was warm.

He would have preferred a normal, cold rain.

_This is just fantastic: I'm drenched in blood and looking for a vampire to keep them from going berserk. Talk about insanity._

The worst of it was, the longer it took to find that vampire, the more likely it was that they'd have already gone berserk by the time Ulrich found them.

_I'm going to be really angry if that vampire stayed home from school today and I've been running around Kadic for nothing…_

Suddenly a shriek threatened to pierce his skull. He whirled and saw someone dashing towards him far faster than even Ulrich could run. There was too much blood everywhere for Ulrich to identify him – beyond that it was indeed a he – but he was clearly a vampire and clearly already berserk.

_How did I get roped into this, again?_ Ulrich swung in a wild attempt to knock the vampire off-balance. Not only did it not work, but the vampire tackled Ulrich to the ground and held him there, unsheathing fangs.

Desperation surged through Ulrich. If those fangs locked on his neck, he wouldn't be able to get the vampire off except by killing it – and return trips didn't reverse deaths.

_Dude, you're stronger than a vampire!_ Ulrich thrashed as hard as he could and managed to flip over, pinning the other guy to the pavement. Even from this new perspective, Ulrich couldn't recognize the vampire; his features were distorted by the unveiling of his bloodthirsty nature, and there was blood all over his face.

The vampire shrieked at him again, straining up in an attempt to stab his fangs into Ulrich's neck. Ulrich brought his head down on the vampire's with a hard crack, and the inhuman nightmare slumped back to the ground.

With a sigh of relief, Ulrich got up and carried the vampire to the first place he could think of that would be empty: his dorm. Once inside, he considered the two beds in indecision before finally dumping the vampire on the floor. Locating a roll of duct tape, he sealed the window with it and rendered the doorknob unable to be unlocked from the inside. Then he returned to full human and got a new shirt out of his drawer. Just as he was about to pull it on, though, he hesitated at his own smell.

_Right: shower first._

Ulrich wandered towards the showers. He hadn't gotten more than halfway there, though, when he heard something that didn't sound right. Slowly he turned his head this way and that, trying to place the sound. It was a scraping, and it seemed to be coming from behind him…

Ulrich turned around. Coming up the stairs was a huge crowd of kids that he would have sworn were human, but were equipped with fangs and claws and had gotten horribly pale with the most demented Xanafied eyes he'd ever seen. All of them were drenched in blood.

"Oh no, oh man, you've got to be _kidding_ me!" Ulrich howled, dropping his shirt and backing up.

Of course: _how_ long did it take before that vampire found him? There was plenty of time for him to have drained of blood every kid who was still outside, and he wouldn't have bothered making sure that he left them somewhere that they wouldn't get this Omen rain in their systems. He'd turned half the school into Xana's undead army, by the looks of it.

One of the new vampires – what do you know, it was Sissi – leaped for Ulrich, who abandoned human form and lunged in his own turn. He was cornered here, and had to get back out of the dorm.

* * *

><p>"There are twenty-five Kankrelats around the next corner," the Elder observed dispassionately from the monitor.<p>

"Seriously, this guy?" William commented over his shoulder as he readied his sword, "He scares me."

"I'm with you," Odd agreed. He was riding the Overbike this time with Aelita behind him. "I mean, Jeremy never sounds so…cold."

"Will you guys just shut up?" Yumi demanded, leaping off her Overwing to claw her way through about half of the Kankrelats before vaulting back onto her vehicle. She hadn't had time to turn back before the virtualization had activated.

Aelita blew up the rest of the Kankrelats with a super-sized Energy Field. She was clearly not happy, and Yumi knew why: when Aelita asked her where Jeremy was, the only answer she got was a terse, "He'll be fine, just focus!"

Yumi knew she'd have to give Aelita a more complete answer later – assuming there was a later, of course – but now was a really bad time for Aelita to be worrying about her boyfriend.

Not like Yumi even considered herself to have any right to criticize Aelita, given how worried _she_ was about Ulrich.

"There are Wraiths by the tower…" Elder Akem observed.

"Of course there are," Yumi growled.

"…And a human is there as well."

Odd's head dropped. "Oh, no, please."

Yumi grimaced in sympathy. When Xana had destroyed every sector except Carthage, they'd considered themselves in need of another warrior and Odd recommended his on-again-off-again girlfriend Samantha. Unfortunately, that had been their downfall the next time Xana launched an attack on Lyoko's core.

They reached the tower and saw four Wraiths. Standing in their midst was a black girl on rollerblades – literally, the wheels were razor-edged – with axe blades on her outer wrists and a tail almost the size and shape of the Overboard. She could give both Ulrich and Yumi a serious run for their money; no one else even came close in speed or maneuverability, especially not Odd with how guilty he was about all of it.

"Focus on the Wraiths – and I'm _especially_ talking to you two," Yumi shouted over her shoulder as she gunned the Overwing forward, pointing two fingers back at Odd and Aelita. "Samantha is my problem!"

The next few minutes were a disaster, in all honesty. They all lost their vehicles within the first thirty seconds, and Odd was devirtualized in another fifty-five. The only good news was that they'd managed to kill two of the Wraiths with their vehicles in kamikaze maneuvers.

Yumi, meanwhile, was barely surviving a deadly dance against Xana-Samantha. It was all she could do even with her enhanced speed to leap away from four whirling blades, and she couldn't risk getting her claws close enough to land a hit.

_If Odd ever gets over what happened to Sam_, Yumi thought wryly, _he'll make a joke about her being a food processor, or a salad shooter._

William suddenly went down, although he'd managed a Pyrrhic victory in taking with him the Wraith that had killed him.

Yumi leapt to a rock and looked around for Aelita…

She stayed still too long. Samantha spiraled up the rock and slashed Yumi up.

The last thing Yumi saw as she disappeared was Aelita entering the tower.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: _**_Sorry this took so long; personally, I find this chapter a slight disappointment, but the next one will be better!_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

* * *

><p>"Ulrich, speak to me! Please!"<p>

The voice was familiar. Ulrich stirred slowly, trying to remember where he was.

"Come on, Ulrich, get up!"

_Yumi?_

Ulrich pried an eye open and looked up. It was Yumi – and the last time she'd looked anything that worried was after he'd let her drink his blood.

Speaking of blood, he didn't smell any. _Return trip, of course_. "Did we get 'im?" he mumbled.

"You mean Xana? We got him, all right," Jeremy replied, leaning over Yumi's shoulder to grin down at Ulrich. "I just wish I could have watched."

"Be glad you didn't, it was a disaster," Yumi told him. "We needed you, Ulrich."

"Glad to hear it," Ulrich growled, struggling to sit up. "Where...wait, why couldn't you watch, Jer?"

"Akem Manah was straightening out what the Xanafied Elder Mandy had done to me. Should I be worried about that, Yumi?"

Ulrich's eyebrows lifted. Jeremy had named two vampire Elders in one breath without reeking of fear. Whatever Akem Manah did, it worked.

Yumi shrugged. "I don't know. He's an _Elder_; they're unpredictable." She considered for a moment and added, "Probably not, though – he seemed to be acting out of spite to Xana, not because anyone asked him, and that makes a difference."

Ulrich snorted. Then he looked around and saw that they were sitting in the shrubs outside the gym. "How did I get here?"

"You don't remember?" Yumi asked. "My guess is you instinctively knew you were going to pass out, so you decided to do it in relative privacy."

"You missed gym class, by the way," Jeremy added.

"Good." Ulrich heaved himself up to his feet and staggered off-balance, his head reeling.

"What happened at the school while we were on Lyoko, anyway?" Yumi asked, putting out a hand to steady him.

Memories flashed before Ulrich's eyes: the blood-drenched pavement, the shrieking vampire, the undead student army clawing at him… "Trust me: you _really_ don't want to know."

* * *

><p>The door to his dorm swung open and an envelope fell on his head. "Mail call," Jim's voice said. Then the door closed.<p>

Ulrich's nose twitched. The letter smelled like his dad.

_Right, like I want to read anything my dad sent me…_ He sat up and opened the envelope anyway.

_Ulrich, I expect this to reach you in good health, and I want to remind you that you are expected at the Lunar Gathering this full moon…_

"That was _this_ month?" Ulrich yelped in horror. He jumped off the bed and went crashing out in search of Jeremy.

He found not only Jeremy but the rest of the Lyoko warriors assembled by the snack machines.

"Ulrich, you shouldn't be up yet!" Aelita protested to his arrival.

"Problem," Ulrich gasped, settling heavily against the doorway. "There's basically a werewolf family reunion next week on the full moon, and my dad expects me to attend."

The other warriors stared at him for a moment.

"How big of a problem is this?" Jeremy finally asked.

Ulrich shrugged. "Worst part for you guys is I won't be available if Xana attacks then. It's mostly my problem. I think my dad's trying to set me up with a girl."

Yumi hissed.

"So, uh, how would you get around that?" William asked.

"Don't know…"

"Hey, bring Yumi!" Odd said cheerfully. "We're always after you to…"

Ulrich interrupted him. "Odd, did I really just hear you suggest that I bring a _vampire_ to a _werewolf_ gathering?"

Odd stood there with his mouth open for a second. "O-kaaayyyy…bad idea." Thinking for a little longer, he added, "Sissi?"

"No. Definitely not. She has problems with the supernatural, and even if I warned her ahead of time I'd still be setting her, and myself, up for a lot of trouble."

"Would bringing a date at all be a problem?" Jeremy asked.

"I doubt it. It would certainly ward off any wolf girls trying to latch onto me."

Yumi unclenched her fangs. "Emily's a werewolf."

"Is she? I didn't notice." Or maybe he _had_, and that was why they'd started talking then. "No, I don't want to bring Emily."

Aelita spoke. "I'll go with you."

Ulrich and Jeremy both stared at Aelita in surprise.

"Elder Akem said that my mother was the prisoner of werewolves. Someday when I'm old enough I want to at least try to save her, or at least find out what happened to her. In order to do that, I need to understand werewolves. And I'd rather observe werewolves with an ally close at hand."

Ulrich considered the determined girl in pink. Aelita's argument made perfect sense, and she was volunteering, and she didn't have any family to miss her if things completely went south, but…

Suddenly Yumi's voice echoed through his skull. _If Jeremy doesn't mind that you're taking his girl on a wolf date, I see no reason why I should complain_.

Ulrich glanced at Jeremy. He seemed to be struggling with himself.

Finally, Jeremy sighed. "If I tell you not to go, you'll just go anyway, won't you?"

Aelita smirked. "Try and stop me."

"Fine…but be very careful and do what Ulrich tells you to. I don't…I don't want you to get hurt."

Aelita kissed Jeremy's cheek. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Odd shook his head and rolled his eyes at William, who spun a finger next to his temple. Yumi crept up behind them and gave both clowns a knock on the head. This resulted in an argument between Odd and Yumi, and William chose to make tracks.

"So, what should I wear?" Aelita asked, standing next to Ulrich.

Ulrich shrugged. "Ask Emily; she might know what's 'in' for wolf girls this year."

He just hoped everything really would be fine.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** Two chapters in a row, in as many days! Not bad, right?_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

* * *

><p>"How do I look?"<p>

Yumi glanced up at Aelita, who was modeling a copper-colored dress with a short skirt and a top that looked suspiciously like it was made of wolf hair. "Not bad; it suits your figure nicely."

"Thanks," Aelita smiled. Then she held up the shoes, which had very high stiletto heels and almost looked like they were made entirely of straps. "Can I get walking instructions for these?"

"Sure," Yumi laughed, taking one of the shoes and looking it over. "You know, somehow I thought werewolves would be into heavy-duty superhero boots."

"That's what I said; Emily said that shoes like these are easier to kick off if one has to morph in a hurry."

Yumi helped Aelita into her shoes and stood her up, holding her steady until she regained some semblance of balance. "If you keep centered, you'll have an easier time maintaining your balance."

Aelita looked down at her feet. "I can do that standing still, but how do I do that when I'm walking?"

"Here," Yumi took her hands and led her forward. "The trick, basically, is not to lean too far to either side. Pretend you're riding your scooter, or the Overboard."

Ten minutes later Aelita was doing better. Yumi suspected that Aelita would have to lose the shoes if something happened and she had to run for it, though.

"I'm going to have strap burns before the party's over," Aelita said ruefully.

"You'll be okay. Maybe Ulrich can find you a few places to sit down and take the shoes off over the course of the day."

Aelita suddenly grinned. "Hey, have you heard about Odd?"

"What about Odd?"

"He's moved into Jeremy's room. Last I heard, they were arguing about how much noise Odd could get away with making."

Yumi laughed. "Those guys…comedians, both of them."

"Aren't they? I showed them my dress and Odd looked like he wanted to howl; I don't think he quite dared while Jeremy was still in the room."

"And what did Jeremy think?"

"He had to pick his jaw back up off the floor first, but he said he liked it." Aelita smiled happily. "I'm glad he's back to normal."

"So am I."

"So, anyway, do you have any suggestions about how to behave at this party?"

Yumi considered. "Offhand, I would say that your first rule should be not to panic: werewolves can smell fear."

Aelita smirked. "Aren't you going to tell me not to say anything there?"

"That might be the second rule: say as little as possible. But silence would be more important if it was a vampire party."

"Ah."

"I don't know if there's a third rule; I haven't been to one of these either."

Aelita sighed. "And possibly you never will, right?"

"Right – not unless things improve dramatically." Yumi thought for a moment. "One more thing: you'll be able to recognize the Alpha on sight, he's the guy with the money and the power and he looks the part, and it's better if you avoid him. If you can't, follow first rule."

"Don't panic, right; I got that part. This is crazy."

"Crazier than some of the stuff we do day after day?"

"Good point," Aelita laughed.

"Seriously: you are a warrior. You've fought monsters three times your height and come out victorious. Oh yeah, and you're really in your twenties. You can handle this."

Aelita smiled at Yumi with a sigh. "Thanks, Yumi; sometimes I just need somebody to remind me of all that."

"You're welcome."

Yumi watched Aelita leave; the girl still teetered a bit on those heels, but at least she was going in a straight line.

_She's still scared_. Yumi sighed and shook her head. _It's not like I can blame her for that: she's walking headfirst into a den of wolves. Literally. She'd have to be crazy_ not _to be scared_.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** I know that this chapter's on the short side. I wasn't all that interested in this part to begin with, but I couldn't go straight to the Lunar Gathering without this bridge first. Next chapter will be longer._


	10. Chapter 10

_**Author's Note: **Sorry this took so long: it seemed kind of deviant to write such a Halloween-esque fic during Christmastime. It's January now, though, and even though the Christmas decorations are still up at my house, I can now finish Solar Eclipse without feeling guilty. ^_^_

Chapter 10

* * *

><p>"Hey, Aelita?" Ulrich muttered, "You're cutting off the circulation to my hand."<p>

Aelita loosened her grip slightly.

"You're doing great, by the way," Ulrich told her. Jim had chauffeured them to the site of the gathering (rambling on about two different jobs he'd held that this task reminded him of – neither of which he wanted to talk about), and they were walking the last few blocks.

Aelita rolled her eyes. "Oh, of course – I'm wearing a super-sexy dress and killer heels, and I'm attending a werewolf gathering at full moon. I'm doing fabulous."

Ulrich grinned. If Aelita could still turn on the sarcasm, she was probably fine.

"Will Herve be there?"

"Maybe; Theo and Emily are both from different packs, so unless someone else invited them, _they_ won't be here."

Ulrich's dad met them at the entrance to the park. He nodded to Ulrich and glowered at Aelita, and then marched in without so much as a "follow me."

"He didn't seem too happy to see me," Aelita whispered.

"Of course not, he wants me to find a nice were-bitch to settle down with. If I really had brought Emily, he'd have been pressuring me to marry her."

"Ulrich!" a slurred voice shouted from off to his left. Wincing, Ulrich turned to nod a polite greeting to the old man staggering up.

"_He's_ not the alpha, is he?" Aelita whispered doubtfully. Ulrich shook his head with a smirk.

"Ulrich, you lucky pup – you found a fine looker to wear on your arm!" The old wolf grinned cheerfully at Aelita, head bobbing drunkenly.

Ulrich grinned at him. "If you think _she's_ a looker…" he began, thinking of Yumi.

The geezer dug in his pocket. "Here – something for the lucky lady." He pulled out something small and shiny and slipped it on Aelita's finger with a comment in the lycanthropic tongue.

"Well…thank you," Aelita said blankly as the old man wobbled back to the table he'd left. Then she looked at her finger. "What did he say?"

"Mm…I think he saw you and me together and jumped to conclusions," Ulrich said evasively; no _way_ was he translating that comment. He leaned over and looked at her hand as well. On her finger was a silver ring, with a glossy white stone in a setting shaped like a wolf mask in full snarl.

"It's pretty…" Aelita twisted it on her finger. "But I don't want it. Would he be offended if I took it off?"

Ulrich glanced back at the mangy fellow, who was in the process of emptying a big glass, and snorted. "Him? In another hour he won't notice if you walked right up to him and punched him in the nose, the way he's drinking those Silver Bullets."

"He's drinking what?"

"Yeah…he calls it laughing in the faces of all the humans dumb enough to believe that werewolves can only be killed with silver." Ulrich took the ring and put it in his pocket. "Maybe somebody else is interested in souvenirs."

"Somebody like Yumi?" Aelita teased.

"Maybe," Ulrich growled at the dirt, his face growing warm. "She is the only other girl I'm really good friends with."

"Is that what it is?"

Ulrich glared at Aelita. "Have you been taking lessons from Odd? We're just friends, all right? I don't even know if anything more serious would work out – everything keeps getting in the way."

Aelita looked away for a moment. "Is that the alpha?"

Ulrich followed her gaze to the elaborately dressed man just approaching the platform that had been erected. "No, that's the alpha's mate."

"Oh!" Aelita's wide-eyed gaze swung around to stare at a woman with shoulder-length red hair and a deceptively simple gray dress that probably cost more than every energy bill at Kadic.

Ulrich gently caught Aelita's head in both hands and turned her face back towards the stage. "Yes, that's the alpha; don't beg for eye contact, and she won't look at you."

"I was expecting…something else, somehow."

"Expecting a guy?"

"Well…wouldn't your father resent taking orders from a woman?"

Ulrich snorted. "Resent? He'd _resent_ taking orders from another guy. _She_ would snap her fingers and every wolf guy here over twenty would probably sit up and beg."

Aelita cocked an eyebrow. "How does she do it?"

"Don't know…the females in this pack don't like her much; this _milluko_ is in pretty good shape, though. Hardly anyone, male or female, really challenges her authority."

Aelita looked at Ulrich. "What's a…what you said?"

"Well…"

The werewolf onstage suddenly shouted to all the partygoers in lycanthropic, earning applause from his audience.

"What was that about?" Aelita asked.

Ulrich shrugged. He was clapping too, but without much enthusiasm. "Basically, the alpha's glad everyone could make it and there's a special entertainment in a few."

"Why didn't she say all of that herself?"

"The alpha usually only howls when she's commanding others." Suddenly an unpleasantly familiar scent reached his nose. The last time he'd smelled it…

"What's wrong, Ulrich?" Aelita asked quietly. She must have noticed him stiffen.

"Turn around slowly," Ulrich told Aelita, circling her as she turned so that he was between her and the wolves as much as possible.

"Now what?" Aelita was almost whispering.

"Start walking. Do _not_ run." Ulrich led her forward, slow and deliberate.

"I _can't_ run in these shoes."

Right: the stilettos. He'd forgotten. "I'll probably have to carry you, so the instant your feet are up see if you can get those shoes off. If you can, you can throw them at the Xanafied werewolves that'll be chasing us."

Aelita turned to stare at him in horror, but she never had a chance to answer: behind them a wolf unleashed a bloodthirsty snarl. Ulrich shifted as fast as he could and broadsided Aelita into falling onto his back, relieved that she thought to grab his fur as they started running.

_Jeremy's going to kill me for this._

That was optimistic, and he knew it: they had to escape the wolf pack first.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

* * *

><p>Yumi looked up from the chess game she was playing with William and glanced unhappily over her shoulder. "Jeremy, <em>please<em> tell me that's not your super-scan I hear."

Jeremy pulled his laptop out and opened it. Then he sighed. "I wish I could. Call Ulrich, would you? I hope he can think of some excuse to get Aelita out of there."

William jumped up. "I'll find Odd."

Yumi pulled her cell phone out and punched Ulrich's number as she followed Jeremy. "Lousy weather for a Xana attack," she commented with a glance at the sky; it had clouded over rapidly and was seriously threatening rain. "I think those clouds'll open up before we get to the factory."

* * *

><p>William and Odd intercepted them at the manhole cover.<p>

"Is there any word from the wolf party?" William panted.

Jeremy glanced at Yumi, a question in his eyes.

"It's still ring-" Yumi began, suddenly interrupted by the phone picking up. "Ulrich?"

"Ulrich can't talk right now," Aelita's voice gasped over the line. "We're being chased by the rest of the werewolf pack!"

For a second Yumi stood in silence, staring back at Jeremy's bewildered face as Odd and William entered the sewers. Then she asked, in a voice charged with more emotion than a human throat could put into four words, "_What did you do_?"

"Ulrich thinks the pack was possessed by Xana! I don't know what tipped him off, or what Xana did, or – but I'm having flashbacks to my nightmares right now!"

"Yumi," Jeremy began. Yumi waved him ahead of her.

"Just tell me you're on your way to the factory."

"I think so – I don't dare look around. Ulrich, we're going to the factory, right?" A snarl came over the line; one that, unfortunately, had no recognizable human words for even Yumi's keen ears to make out.

"Well, Ulrich's right – Xana's on the attack. Get to the factory as fast as you can. We'll meet you there." Yumi hung up and leaped after Jeremy. "Xana sure knows how to turn a family reunion sour."

"Tell me about it," Odd tossed over his shoulder.

"Is this the part where you tell us that we're being chased by werewolves now?" William asked in a voice that had given up on fear.

"Yeah, it's something along those lines."

"Is Aelita in danger?" Jeremy asked.

Yumi coasted up next to Jeremy and cocked an eyebrow at him. She didn't say a word, but…at that point, she didn't need to.

Jeremy groaned.

* * *

><p>At the other end of the sewers Yumi leaped up the ladder and opened the cover. She was greeted by a torrent of rain, soaking her to the skin in a matter of seconds.<p>

"I hope nobody minds getting wet," Yumi called back down.

"No problem – I'll be able to skip taking a shower when we get back to the dorm!" Odd called up brightly as he clambered up, gripping the suddenly slippery ladder with a death-grip.

Jeremy groaned again but voiced no other complaint.

Once on the bridge, everyone dashed for the cables. Yumi swung out on hers and landed easily. Odd and William landed with much less finesse; they didn't have the practice at good landings under slippery conditions. The three of them looked up at Jeremy…

Just in time to see him leap for a cable and miss by a good two feet.

"_Jeremy_!" three voices shouted in horror, two human male and one vampire female. Yumi dashed for where Jeremy would likely land, all the while cursing herself for a fool. Why didn't it occur to her that his glasses would fog over completely in the rain? He might as well have been blind.

Then the miracle happened.

A big brown werewolf with a screaming girl clinging to his back launched after Jeremy with a terrific snarl, grabbing the nearest cable in both hands and Jeremy's arm in his mouth. They spun wildly and the rope creaked, but all three of them remained suspended in the air.

"Ulrich!" Yumi sighed in relief. "You do have a way of making an entrance, don't you? Can you come down like that, or will you need to drop somebody?"

Ulrich growled some sort of answer and started a slow and erratic climb down the cable, dropping Jeremy as he chose to fall the last few feet.

"Everybody okay?" William asked.

"I lost my shoes," Aelita said numbly.

Jeremy struggled to his feet, only using his right arm. "I think my shoulder was dislocated," he gasped.

Yumi chirped an echolocation burst at his shoulder. "It is. I can put it back for you – come on, I'll do it in the elevator."

They all filed into the elevator. Ulrich was last, pausing to violently shake the water from his fur before trotting in under the closing door and hiding in a corner.

"What's with you?" Odd asked.

"Hey!" Jeremy protested as Yumi ripped the sleeve off his left arm. Then he fell silent for a moment as they both stared in surprise at the wild assortment of scratches oozing blood on his upper arm.

Yumi carefully lifted Jeremy's arm and studied the scratches. "Looks like Ulrich didn't grip hard enough to keep your arm from moving around in his mouth when gravity hit you." She glanced at Ulrich and lowered Jeremy's arm again, adjusting her hands to take a firm but careful hold on his shoulder. "You can relax, Ulrich, it doesn't look all that bad. Aside from the bleeding, it looks dry."

Ulrich didn't turn back, but he did sit up and look at the others.

"That makes a diff – aah!" Jeremy yelped as Yumi forced his shoulder back into alignment.

"Yes."

"So it's the drool that does that," William said, mostly to himself.

"Can we just hurry up and get this over with?" Aelita said wistfully, hugging herself tightly in a futile attempt to still her shivering.

"Right," Jeremy dashed out and claimed the chair, ignoring the scratches. "Get to the scanner room, pronto."

"Are you going in like that?" Yumi asked Ulrich.

Ulrich grinned up at her. "Why not?" he managed to growl, "I could use some enemies to sink my teeth into."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

* * *

><p>"Wraiths?" Ulrich asked. He was running, Odd had his Overbike, and William had Odd's Overboard. Yumi and Aelita were the only ones on normal transport: Yumi had her Overwing, and Aelita was flying on her new wings.<p>

"Yup," Jeremy replied gloomily. "Wraiths, and Mantas; Sam's there, too."

"Doesn't anyone think we had enough problems, without bringing the Mantas out of Sector Five?" William complained.

"Hey, _you're_ not the one who has any trouble with them," Odd reminded him.

"Right or wrong situation, we all have trouble with the Mantas," Yumi reminded Odd. "Aelita's the only one who can fly, and Ulrich doesn't have a projectile weapon. Supernaturally, Ulrich and I have an easier time; that's when _I _can fly, and Ulrich can attack long-range."

Ulrich grinned as he saw the first Manta. "Yeah, like this." He aimed his muzzle at its center and unleashed a howl. The shock waves from the howl didn't destroy the Manta before it swerved off-course, but Yumi's fan intercepted the new course.

"Way to tag-team!" William cheered, pumping his sword.

"Any trouble out there yet, Jeremy?" Aelita asked.

"No, it's still quiet. I guess the rain wiped out your scent trail, Ulrich."

"Lucky it started raining, then," Ulrich replied before howling at another Manta.

Yumi glanced at the digital sky thoughtfully. "Somehow…" she murmured, "I'm not so sure that was luck."

Ulrich looked over his shoulder. "What, you don't think it was a coincidence?"

"Just a theory I have – I'll tell you later. The only question is why…"

Suddenly the first wave of Wraiths lunged for them just as they got in sight of the tower. William set the Overboard spinning, becoming a deadly out-of-control top aimed straight for the Wraiths. He annihilated that wave in one sweep, and Yumi steadied him back out with her telekinesis.

Ulrich spotted Sam just as something occurred to him. "This is a bad time to mention this," he said warily, "But Yumi and I…well; we're the wrong way around to deal with Sam speed-wise, and neither of us can shift."

Odd startled them all by unloading his Laser Arrows at Sam. "I don't have time to sulk right now!" he shouted. "That's not Samantha, it's Xana, and I can wallow in guilt over his capturing her later!"

Yumi and Ulrich glanced at each other and shrugged. Odd wasn't doing a very good job of actually _hitting_ Sam – she was parrying all his darts with her wrist blades – but he was doing a great job at keeping her attention.

"William, remember that death-stunt you did before? Do it again," Ulrich called. "Yumi, steer him towards the Wraiths! Aelita, get to the tower, but watch your back for any Mantas that might get past me!"

"Who made you team leader?" William demanded. But he did start spinning again, and Yumi telekinetically shoved him towards the Wraiths.

Ulrich tilted his muzzle heavenwards and started howling at the Mantas. Some of them were circling the tower, but Ulrich didn't dare turn his attention towards those yet.

Sam shrieked in fury – _oh, Aelita must have reached the tower already_ – and slashed through Odd straight for Ulrich. Spotting her in his peripheral, he tried to dodge in mid-howl.

Suddenly the world exploded. At least, that was what it sounded like. Ulrich toppled over and covered his head, wondering what had just happened. No way was _that_ the tower deactivating…

"Whew!" Yumi exclaimed from somewhere past his right shoulder. "Ulrich, you can get up now. Sam's gone, and that minefield's done blowing up."

Ulrich's head came up with a jerk and he stared at Yumi. "Those Mantas by the tower – they were setting a minefield?"

"Yeah," Jeremy answered, "And you set them off with your howl."

Ulrich didn't remember doing anything of the sort. But then, he'd been more interested in avoiding Sam than in where he was howling. "Well…the tower's down, we're all alive…"

"Odd was devirtualized," Yumi reminded him. "And William was caught in that minefield detonation."

"The scanners are working fine, though, so Ulrich's statement is still correct," Jeremy added from the lab.

"And the pack likely won't remember what they'd been hunting," Ulrich went on, "And with no scent trail to clue them in…I think we can skip the return trip this time."

"Fantastic. I'm bringing you guys in now."

* * *

><p>The rain stopped just as they all left the elevator.<p>

"Hey, Yumi," William spoke up, "You said you had a theory about the rain…"

Yumi sniffed the air in a gesture that looked more catlike than doglike. "And I was right. That rainstorm was summoned by a vampire."

"Vampires can summon storms?" Ulrich asked, staring at Yumi. He hadn't expected to hear that vampires could change the weather.

"Elders can; I think they're the only ones strong enough, and I _know_ that no one else is taught."

"But why would an Elder summon all this rain?" Aelita asked, tiptoeing out of the elevator like a bird.

Thus reminded that Aelita had lost her shoes, Ulrich knelt down and let her climb onto his back. He'd returned to normal after returning to the lab, but he could certainly carry one light girl.

Jeremy frowned. "The timing's especially strange. It started a little after Xana took over that pack, and stopped right after we deactivated the tower."

They all climbed back up to the bridge. Suddenly Ulrich stiffened, the panic signals in his head going off.

"Uh, guys…" he began, kneeling down and balancing on all fours.

Yumi shot him a look. "I'm guessing that Elder's coming to say hello," she commented as she exerted her own influence on Ulrich.

"Man," Odd commented, shaking his head, "If big-time vampires are planning to give us assists from now on, then those instincts are going to be a problem."

Elder Akem materialized in what was left of the rain, still in his tailored suit, with something in his hand. "Here you are, Aelita," he said, extending whatever it was…

A vampire Elder had retrieved Aelita's shoes. Ulrich decided it wasn't that funny.

Jeremy approached and took the shoes. "Thank you…for the rain," he said.

"I am pleased to see you've recovered," the Elder replied, nodding to Jeremy in an almost friendly way before fading into mist.

After about a minute of silence William asked, "Did he just say what I thought he said?"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

* * *

><p>"Okay, let me see if I've got this," Odd said as they all entered William's room, "Elder Akem knew all of us…"<p>

"Uh-huh," Ulrich nodded.

"And he knew that Jeremy'd had problems, which he'd fixed…"

"Right," Jeremy agreed.

"…Even though there was a Return to the Past erasing the Omens _and_ his coming to tell us about them."

Yumi laughed, seeing where this was going. "Based on the overwhelming evidence, I would conclude that vampire Elders can remember the return trips."

"Do you think _all_ vampires can, or just all vampire Elders?" William asked, collapsing on his bed next to Kiwi and scratching the little dog's ears. "I mean, the only vampire any of us has any long-term experience with is you."

Yumi shook her head. "If _all_ vampires could, some of the conversations I've had with my parents would have gone much worse the second time around. No, I think that's an Elder thing – might even just be an Akem Manah thing."

"Are we in trouble?" Ulrich asked.

Yumi sighed. "He's an _Elder_. Who can say?" She'd said almost the same thing about Elder Mandy, hadn't she? Good grief, but their encounters with Elders took the strangest of turns.

Aelita finally showed up in her normal clothes. "Emily was a little upset that the dress was wet."

"Dry-clean only?" Odd asked.

Jeremy looked up worriedly. "How do we read _a little_ upset?"

"Oh, she was nice about it. After all, it wasn't like I called the rain or anything." Aelita made a thoughtful face at the ceiling. "Ulrich, you'd said something back at the party…"

"When?" Ulrich asked, stretching as though his neck ached clear down his spine. Maybe it did, after a rapid transformation and a very long run with a girl on his back.

"We were talking about the alpha werewolf and the rest of the pack's reaction to her – only you didn't say 'pack.' You said…"

"Oh, _milluko_; yeah, I did promise to translate that."

"Is that really a lycan word?" Yumi asked doubtfully. Even coming from Ulrich's throat, it almost sounded more like a big cat than a wolf.

"Nah; it _is_ therian, though – blended from a couple different werebeast tongues." Ulrich settled against the wall and frowned in thought. "It does mean 'pack,' but that's incomplete. I guess the closest translation is the one that werecats use, especially the lions: pride. It's hierarchy, military-level coordination, and family."

"Is that how you think of your father's…" Aelita tried twice, and failed, to pronounce Ulrich's word, and finally settled on, "…Pride?"

"No…not really; I never wanted to belong to my father's world."

"_Are_ you part of that pride?" William asked, curious in spite of himself.

Ulrich barked out a laugh. "Officially, no: Mom argued Dad out of _that_, at least – got him to agree that I would join his pack by choice." He stood up. "I never will, though."

"Lone werewolves don't get on well according to that website," Jeremy began.

"I've _got_ a pack. Or more specifically, I have a pride."

Yumi blinked. This was the first she'd heard of Ulrich joining such a group.

"When did that happen?" Odd asked.

"A couple years ago; and you actually know what I'm talking about, Odd."

"I do?"

"Yeah, you joined the same pride; might have even been a little ahead of me."

Yumi's eyebrows shot up as she suddenly made the connection. "It's us, isn't it?"

Ulrich nodded at Yumi, a sardonic tilt to his brow. "At the risk of sounding like an overly dramatic sap…we've become something a lot more than just a team. We're family. We're a _milluko_ – a pride."

"So when do we start howling at the moon?" Odd asked cheerfully. Then he had to run as William grabbed up a pillow and started chasing him while everyone else backed, laughing, out of the way.

"What will your father say?" Aelita gasped out between giggles.

"Knowing my luck…" Ulrich sighed, "He'll lock me in the closet again."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: **I know that this is short; if anyone has any suggestions for more length, I'm willing to listen and will likely update the chapter if enough good ideas come in._


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